


still water

by summerofspock



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, First Kiss, First Time, Friends to Lovers, Implied Aang/Katara - Freeform, Implied Sexual Content, Love Confessions, Nostalgia, POV Toph Beifong, Pining, canon divergence after season three, ignoring LOK canon, they are adults here and its allowed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:08:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24424765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/summerofspock/pseuds/summerofspock
Summary: Toph sagged against the railing and tipped her face to the sun. It was warm on her skin, but she could already feel the impending chill of the Southern waters.Why was she doing this?Right, because Sokka had asked. And Toph had always been weak when it came to Sokka.**Toph visits the Southern Water Tribe. Some old feelings come to light.
Relationships: Toph Beifong/Sokka
Comments: 38
Kudos: 472





	still water

**Author's Note:**

> ok i rewatched ATLA and lost my mind over this ship.  
> This is not LoK or comic compliant because I make my own universes. I hope you like this one.  
> It's mentioned in fic but Toph is 22 here.
> 
> I'm playing fast and loose with a lot of canon here but it's fun! Please join me on an adventure.

Toph hated the water. She hated how being on a boat was like being in a swishing, swinging black void. At least the Fire Nation boats were metal but the water tribe boats? Wooden through and through.

Grasping at the side, Toph heaved the contents of her stomach into the sea. She'd barely been able to keep down water since they’d left the mainland, but the captain had said they were less than a day out now.

A day of hell.

The boards creaked behind her, and she snapped at whoever was approaching, "What?"

There was a small shuffling of feet, and Toph turned towards the sound. The stranger didn't touch her at least. Strangers loved to do that. Like she needed help. 

"Can I get you anything?"

Ah, the cabin boy. He'd been nice to her. If she put his age about right, she'd guess he was about six years younger than her. Yet still older than she had been when she had saved the world. Oh, to have been a cabin boy instead of a blind earth bender.

She vomited over the side again. Nevermind that. No cabin boy careers for her. In fact, no boat-adjacent careers. She never wanted to touch a boat again.

"Water," she croaked and heard the tip tap of the boys feet as he trotted off 

She sagged against the railing and tipped her face to the sun. It was warm on her skin, but she could already feel the impending chill of the southern waters.

Why the fuck was she doing this?

Right, because Sokka had asked. And Toph had always been weak when it came to Sokka.

**

Toph relented in her quest to make every shipmate's life hell by letting the cabin boy help her off the ship when they arrived. Getting onto the ice wouldn't be much better than the ship in terms of being able to sense her surroundings, but at least it wouldn't be  _ moving _ . If she wanted the world to spin like that then she'd rather just get drunk.

Her bare feet had just struck ice when she heard a very familiar, joyful whoop.

"Toph!"

She felt the rumble and heard the tapping of running feet before she was scooped into a hug. Sokka.

He smelled like woodsmoke and salt and Toph very discreetly inhaled, tucking the sense memory away to pull out again later when she was alone. People did not hug Toph Beifong. People bowed to Toph Beifong. They kneeled. But Sokka, Sokka hugged and Toph wasn't about to push him away.

He had gotten a second growth spurt about two years after the Day of the Black Sun and absolutely dwarfed her now. She was never going to be tall, but Sokka made her feel tiny. 

Realizing she was ruminating on her stupid teenage crush, she pushed Sokka away and said, "Alright, enough warm fuzzies. I'm here to work. That's what you wanted, right?"

Sokka laughed, still one of the most joyous sounds Toph had ever heard, and slung his arm around her shoulders. "Maybe I just missed my friend."

Toph shoved at him. "If you just missed me, you could have come seen me in the Earth Kingdom and not dragged me to the ass end of nowhere."

"Fair, fair," Sokka said like he was very intensely considering her argument. "C'mon, I'll take you to the elders."

Toph hesitated. Should she just follow the sound of Sokka walking? She'd never been here before so it really was a risk. And the ice was slippery and cold and she had no shoes.

"Actually," Sokka said, drawing out the word like he did just before he was going to tease her. "Think you’d risk some shoes instead of frostbite?"

Toph groaned but grasped for his hand. He took it easily. His hand was so much larger than it used to be, the pads of his fingers more calloused. Toph shivered in a way that had nothing to do with the cold.

Thankfully, Sokka misinterpreted her stupid reaponse to a bit of hand holding as an actual chill.

"We should probably get you some furs too. Aang would kill me if I let you freeze to death."

Toph let Sokka lead her into a tent. Based on the smoky scent, she was fairly certain it was his. "You can sit," he said, voice a bit muffled like he was rummaging through something.

Toph hesitantly lowered herself down and realized she was sitting on a bed. Her sixteen-year-old dreams come true. Sitting on Sokka's bed. She huffed a laugh just as she heard Sokka approach and come to a stop in front of her.

"Shoe time, baby," Sokka declared and with very little fanfare helped her into soft, warm boots that actually felt nice against the soles of her feet. It wasn't as good as dirt. Not by a long shot. But it didn't make her want to light them on fire which was a good start. 

"All I've got are some of my coats, but we can probably pick something up from one of the girls in town if you'd prefer," Sokka said, once more rising to his feet.

Toph stood and punched him in the arm. "I don’t need some girly coat. If it’s warm it works."

"Yeah. Yeah. Just don't go around complaining about how much I stink," Sokka said and a warm fur was being settled around her shoulders. She slipped her arms into the sleeves and found a tie at the waist that she wrapped around herself twice before tying it into a bow. 

Sokka cleared his throat. "Well that's...yeah."

Toph blew some bangs away from where they were poking her in the eye. "What? Do I look stupid?"

"Um," Sokka said. There was an oddly thick pause in which Toph wished she could sense Sokka's heartbeat. Anything to break the silence. "No. You look...you look good. Great. Yeah."

That did something to Toph's own heart that she didn't particularly like. She was soft for Sokka. Always had been. She had her academy now and all her students and a whole new life in Ba Sing Se. She was happy. 

But sometimes she remembered. She remembered cold nights laughing around a fire with her friends. Aang and Katara too caught up in each other and Sokka always there to lighten the mood even when things turned dark. When things got bad.

Years had followed where too much work was put on their too young shoulders but they did it anyway. Someone had to. And when the dust settled of course Katara went with Aang and Sokka found his way home. And Toph? She had been determined to make a place for herself in a world not made for her.

Sometimes, on long nights, nights where sleep evaded and Toph could feel the encroaching loneliness, she tried to remind herself that you couldn’t be in love at age twelve. It was too young. But that never stopped her from remembering the stupidest things. Sokka gamely playing earth bending games even though all he had was his boomerang. Sokka nudging Toph with his elbow and murmuring jokes about Aang under his breath. And then in all those years after, all that work, Sokka was always there to plan, to be practical, to come up with some crazy solution when it felt like nothing would ever go right again.

Maybe you couldn't fall in love at twelve, but you could have a crush. Toph certainly had. All that stupid sweating palms and racing hearts. She’d assumed she would get over it. She didn’t. And then she was sixteen and Toph was fairly certain sixteen-year-olds the world over had been falling in love since the dawn of time.

But now she was twenty two and she shouldn't feel this way. It had been four years since they'd seen each other for more than a handful of days at the yearly council. And sure they got uproariously drunk and ruined the banquet every time and it always felt like they'd never left each other’s sides but Toph should be over it.

She wasn't.

That couldn't have been more clear when the letter came asking for her to come to the south pole and help plan to create a new central island for the Water Tribe. They reasoned that, in the absence of enough benders, they needed somewhere in the south pole that wouldn't melt.

Toph had agreed immediately. Toph had ridden on a boat. And now Toph was wearing shoes on a giant ice island and willingly blinding herself all because Sokka asked.

Pathetic.

"Alright," Toph grumbled, tucking her hands into her overlong sleeves. "Take me to the council."

Sokka looped his arm through hers and led her through the village. She could smell salted fish and tanned hides, the sharp petrichor smell of long frozen ice. 

"So how's Ba Sing Se treating you?" Sokka asked, pulling Toph's attention back to him. 

"The school is good. Some of the students suck but sometimes benders suck, that's just how it is."

"Not everyone can be the greatest earth bender of their time," Sokka teased and Toph bit back a smirk.

Toph was led into a building that felt as if it was made of ice. The echoing silence immediately made her uncomfortable and she froze. Sokka's arm tightened in hers. "You ok?"

"Yeah," Toph said, squeezing her eyes shut and taking a deep breath. "Just adjusting."

With that Sokka introduced her to the elders who all greeted her warmly, mentioning Sokka’s tales of her and what they'd heard. 

It was a fairly painless meeting. The elders laid out a plan for a central island further north where the ice shelf could easily hide it. They'd use the earth-based island only during times of ice melt.

Toph considered the ask. It was significant square footage and it would require a lot of earth benders.

"It’s possible," she said. "You'd need to give us an exposed rock to work with but we could get it done. I think we'd need about ten benders to do it quickly and do it right."

"And do you have ten benders you can call here," an old man asked, voice grating over the cold ice walls.

Toph nodded. All her graduates were willing to do her a favor. She worked them hard in their time at her academy, but they respected her. "I can send for them."

"Perfect!" Sokka said from somewhere to her left. "Now that business is done, it's time to show you some southern hospitality."

It turned out that hospitality looked like a bonfire, smoked fish, a steady stream of wine from the mainland and music. Toph had never heard Water Tribe music and found the steady rhythm, the vibrations of the drums soothing.

Sokka pressed a cup of wine into her hand and dropped down on the blanket-covered ground beside her. "So are you really happy up there in Ba Sing Se? If I recall, you hated it."

Toph took a long drink of the spiced wine, savoring the warm taste. She shrugged. "Nobody treats me like royalty anymore. They treat me like a bender. And a hero. And that's fine. I never wanted to be some refined lady and I hated Ba Sing Se because it reminded me of all that stuff I wanted to leave behind. It doesn't really remind me of that anymore."

For a moment, Toph felt the warmth of Sokka's arm pressed against hers. A sign of support. Or something.

"I'm really proud of you, you know. Finding your own space in the world. Being happy," Sokka said quietly. Quietly enough that Toph knew she'd be the only one to hear it under the thrum of music and laughter. 

"Are you happy?" Toph asked, the moment oddly serious.

"Most of the time," Sokka said. "But I miss you guys. This is home but it feels so far away from all of you. I know there's work to be done but…"

It was Toph's turn to lean into Sokka. He didn't pull away. She felt some tension leave his body and said, "You're allowed to be lonely. I’m lonely too sometimes."

Sokka was silent and all Toph could hear was the hushed sounds of his breathing, the subtle movement of the wine in his cup, the steady beat of drums. Her heart was in her throat. She ignored it.

"I'm glad you're here then,” Sokka said, still not pulling away. “Even if it’s just for a bit. We can be lonely together."

Toph laughed. It was all too much. Too tense. "Yeah, we can be sad sacks together. Sparky’s not here so somebody needs to be the broody one."

"That’s a brooding legacy I don’t think either of us could live up to."

It was nice overall, sitting in the cold air and letting Sokka tell her stories of his tribe. How things had been going in recent years. Successes and failures. With the fire burning, it was almost like those nights on the run. Toph kept expecting to hear Aang's loud laugh, Katara's quieter snicker. But even though she never did, with Sokka beside her, she didn't miss it too much.

The party wound down as the air grew even colder. And when she could no longer stifle her yawns, Sokka urged her up and led her to her tent.

She stepped inside and gasped. Dirt. Earth. Packed on the ground and real beneath her feet. She felt like she could breathe again.

"Did you do this?" she asked, already casting out with her senses and feeling the pressure of the bed on the ground, the subtle weight of her bags in the corner.

Sokka shuffled in the doorway. "Yeah I know it's not as good as being on land, but I thought packed dirt might make you more comfortable. I know you hate the ice."

Toph tore off her boots and dug her toes into the dirt. There was at least four inches of it. It was cold from the ice beneath but it felt amazing.

She whirled on Sokka and realized that she could finally feel his heart. It was racing fit to match the beat in her own chest.

Maybe it was the wine or the cold or the fact that she was still bundled in his woodsmoke jacket, but she was across the room in second and pulling him down into a kiss.

He squeaked in surprise but when she smiled at the sound, he smiled back. It was hard to kiss while smiling but they managed it. His hands went to her waist, fingers tightening on her hips and her hands found their way into his hair, undoing his topknot and tangling in the soft strands. 

"I've wanted to do that since I was sixteen," Toph said and then regretted it. Stupid confessions were exactly that. Stupid.

Sokka laughed, a sharp disbelieving huff. "If I’d known that, I would have kissed you at that first annual council. Do you remember when we fed Bosco—” 

"The entire dessert tray?" Toph finished with a laugh.

"Everyone was so mad!"

"Not Bosco" Toph pointed out and then Sokka was laughing too and it thrilled her.

When it subsided, Toph could feel him again, his weight in the earth he had brought here for her, his heartbeat echoing in the dirt. 

"I'd like to kiss you again," Sokka said quietly.

"Then do it."

Sokka cupped her face gently in calloused hands, pressing their mouths together like she was something precious. She should have hated it. She’d always hated when people treated her like she was fragile but this...this wasn't for fear of seeing her break. It was hope. Hope that he could savor this moment for as long as it lasted.

Toph sort of wanted it to last forever.

When neither of them pulled away, Toph relaxed against him, parting her mouth against his so their tongues could slide together. It was sparks all down her spine. Cool water on a hot day. Pleasure and relief.

Sokka made a noise deep in his throat that set something off in her. Something hungry and needy. She wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss. It was messy, a little desperate, nearly ten years of wanting finally coming to fruition.

It was Sokka who pulled back. "We've both been drinking, I'm not sure we should…"

Toph pulled away sharply and turned around to face the bed. "Fine," she bit out. "Thought maybe you...I shouldn't have kissed you in the first place."

"Yes you should’ve!” he protested, drawing closer behind her. “I'm just saying we shouldnt do anything well regret."

"Oh, so you think you'll regret me?”

"Never."

His tone was so deadly serious, so not like Sokka, that Toph froze. Hands were on her shoulders running down her arms as Sokka embraced her from behind. "I don't want to leave. I just want us to both have a clear head when we—"

"Fuck?" Toph interjected, just to be crass.

Sokka laughed quietly, his breath tickling her cheek. 

"Let’s go to bed and talk about it in the morning."

Toph obeyed and if they undressed slowly, trading soft kisses, then that was confirmation enough that this wasn’t some drunken mistake.

He tucked in close behind her, bare chest pressed against her back as he kissed the nape of her neck. "I wanted you that night too. I thought I was being the biggest creep. You were sixteen and maybe the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen."

"I think I remember getting an entire thing of jam thrown on my face by a bear," Toph said, still facing the wall and allowing herself a smile that felt so ridiculous she was glad no one could see it.

"I think the jam added to your allure."

Toph snorted. "You were probably just hungry."

"That too," Sokka admitted and then he nuzzled the sensitive.place between Toph's shoulder blades, making goosebumps break out over her skin.

"Go to sleep Sokka," she said, slapping at his hip. He grunted and pulled her close.

Toph fell asleep that night surrounded by the steady sense of earth blanketing the ice, and the even steadier rhythm of Sokka's breathing as they slept curled together.

And in the morning, when they came together, it was in the quiet. The world entirely still.


End file.
